A niche edit (also called a curated link or contextual insertion) is a backlink added to an existing, already-indexed page on another website — as opposed to a guest post, which involves publishing a brand-new article. The appeal for link buyers and sellers is that the target page has existing authority and indexation history, so the link may pass value more quickly than a link on a new page. Niche edits are frequently sold as a link-building service, and when payment is involved they violate Google’s link spam policies in the same way paid guest posts do. Legitimate versions exist where a site owner genuinely updates old content and adds a relevant reference link. Google’s spam systems have become increasingly effective at identifying paid link insertions, making this tactic higher-risk than it was several years ago.